


Gifted and Talented

by mVincentJ, xDomino009x



Series: Overwatch Academy [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Arguing, Asthmatic Widowmaker, Bickering, Blood, Body Dysphoria, Bullying, Burns, Capture the Flag, Chemistry, Coming Out, Crushes, F/F, Fire, Gaming, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Violence, M/M, Makeup, McHanzo - Freeform, Minor Injuries, Nudity, Original Character(s), Studying, Tracer in sports gear, awkward gay, mercymaker, part time job, track, upset
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 18:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7397905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mVincentJ/pseuds/mVincentJ, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDomino009x/pseuds/xDomino009x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school is tough enough and as an exclusive, privately funded school Overwatch Academy is even tougher.<br/>There'll be tears and bloodshed - and that's just the exam season</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragon Bros

**Author's Note:**

> Other ships are bound to happen, new characters will be tagged as they appear.
> 
> Also, we're happy to accept prompts left in the comments - or throw them at me on my tumblr (xDomino009x) - and they may feature in chapters or one shots ;)
> 
> So, please enjoy :3

“Welcome to Overwatch Academy.”

They both looked up at the unexpected voice, wondering if they should stand up after almost ten minutes of waiting in the reception’s overly stuffed chairs. Hanzo sat upright, his brother rolling his eyes behind him at the predictable straightening of his posture. Looking back to the screen between his knees, Genji turned his attention back to his phone and flicked through his twitter feed. Words of wisdom from Gaku Space were more important than whatever the girl in front of them had to say. She had an accent he couldn’t place, didn’t really care to, and he wasn’t interested in listening to Hanzo’s stilted English.

Instead he listened to the ticking of the clock up on the wall, the bubbles popping in the tropical fish tank in the corner of the room and he almost felt as though he were underwater with the fish. The sounds echoed inside his helmet.

With a resigned sigh he locked his phone and looked up, leaning forwards with his elbows resting on his metallic thighs. The girl had dark hair and eyes, although the tint of his visor threw off the exact shades. He knew she was wearing a bright blue sweater vest though, and a white blouse beneath it. She pointed a smile at him, acknowledging his attention even if he had yet to participate. A diplomat’s smile.

“We will start with the tour,” she announced, obviously finishing whatever introductory speech he was supposed to have listened to as he’d retweeted a message that had amused him. She took a step backwards, a cue for them to both stand and follow her through to the rest of the campus.

Hanzo followed close behind as they headed towards the labs and workrooms, keeping pace with the girl as she lead them down an almost abandoned corridor. “Amali-San, will the shooting range be part of our tour?” came Hanzo’s voice. Genji stole any seriousness from the question held by shoving his phone in front of his brother’s face to show him the intricate katana on his twitter feed. With a scowl Hanzo roughly pushed Genji’s hand away and waited for a reply.

Still smiling she said, “Please, call me Fareeha,” her tone light. Genji was beginning to get bored with her polite simper. Fareeha opened her mouth to reply but the voice they heard was not hers.

“Pharah!” A boy ran up towards them, probably younger than the three of them, with a dark blue badge pinned to his chest reading ‘school council’ in bright orange lettering. When he reached them he was red faced and frowning. “He’s started another fight in the canteen.” Genji looked up from the weapons displayed on his phone with some interest. A fight might actually be interesting.

Harried and more than a little exasperated ‘Pharah’ nodded at the boy, then turned back to them. Message dutifully delivered, the school council member went silent. Genji watched Pharah for her reaction and saw her gaze land on a loitering man at their flank.

“Jesse, didn’t you have detention with Torbjorn this lunch?”

The unshaven man looked up from under his wide brimmed hat, sheepish. “Not that I recall, ma’am.”

Fareeha didn’t seem convinced by his answer, and gave him a deadpan look. “If you help me, I may also forget.” The cowboy, Jesse, seemed ready to protest as he walked towards them shoes clinking a little. What was the costume for?

“I’m sure you- well, howdy.” Eyebrows raised, his gaze turned to the brothers. Glancing from them to the well-groomed prefect he continued, “What can I do you for, Pharah?” Genji lost interest in the exchange and instead wandered away from their close knit party, peering into workrooms with Hanzo’s eyes on his back the whole time. They seemed to come to some sort of agreement, because when Genji turned back to them Fareeha was leaving with her minion scuttling behind her.

After watching them go Hanzo introduced himself beside Genji. While Hanzo bowed and offered his name, Genji simply opted for a “Hey,” and a nod instead of following his brother’s lead. The cowboy tipped his hat to them with a lopsided grin, “Jesse McCree, mighty fine to make your acquaintance.” Genji felt like he was in a Old Western movie. It was a shame rolling his eyes no longer held any effect for the people around him.

It was nice that the guy hadn’t immediately started eyeballing his cybernetic body though, so he wasn’t going to hate the costumed weirdo on sight.

“Well, I’m all-standin’ by myself so I’ll show you the highlights.” He turned on his heel with a swish of his red poncho. Underneath the fabric Genji saw a glint of metal, hesitated for a second and then followed. A dramatic gesture with his right hand pointed towards the doors similar to the one Genji had looked through. “State of the art labs an’ workshops,” Jesse pointed to his golden ‘BAMF’ belt buckle, “Even made myself this in there.” Hanzo stared at the belt buckle with a perplexed look, then turned his eyes to the rooms around them.

“I’d show you ‘em, but they’re locked up tight durin’ lunch.”

Genji shrugged, looking through another of the doors. He had to walk fast to catch up with the others. As they made their way through double doors at the end of the corridor they could just make out Fareeha’s raised voice.

Once outside, the internal systems of Genji’s suit notified him of the sudden temperature drop. Beside him, Hanzo stiffened as the cold wind buffeted his black bangs. Jesse held down his hat and headed towards a nearby building, the smallest of three that weren't directly next to the main building. They were led through what he assumed were pretty chilly conditions, considering his companions’ reactions and the wild swaying of the trees that lined the pathway they followed.

Pulling a white keycard from a pocket Genji hadn’t noticed, Jesse unlocked the door and showed them inside, the lights flickering on automatically. Righting his hat, Jesse’s half-grin reappeared as he turned towards them. “Best place on campus right here.” Genji would’ve raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t bother.

The building seemed small on the inside, with nothing particular filling the space other than thin walls that sectioned the room into almost cubicles. Jesse lead them forward but instead of taking them to the campus changing rooms - like Genji had expected - he showed them long corridor-like partitions with holographic targets at their ends.

“The shootin’ range,” Jesse announced proudly. Noise cancelling headphones and safety goggles sat neatly on the benches at the entrance to each cubicle and off to one side a metal door, likely locked and leading to a room filled with practise weapons. Hanzo nodded and left Genji’s side to explore, his interest obviously piqued. “I’m in charge here if you ever wanna do some sharp shootin’,” Jesse said to Hanzo’s retreating back, “If you ever need some assistance..” He trailed off as Hanzo regarded the safety goggles with a disparaging look.

“Do you have any moving targets?” Jesse looked a little surprised by Hanzo’s question, but replied quickly all the same. “Sure do.” He moved over to the far wall and flipped one of the switches on a small control console. All at once, panels slid open in the side of the wall beyond the partitions. Drones emerged from the openings and this time Genji did raise his eyebrows, somewhat impressed. Over by the benches Hanzo dropped the goggles back down and stared at the mechs.

Smirking at their surprise Jesse looped his thumbs back through his belt and leant back against the wall. “Impressive, ain’t it?” Genji nodded his approval and folded his arms across his chest, refusing to take any further part in their tour, while his brother sized up the drones. Probably wondering how many arrows it would take to bring them crashing to the ground. Five drones, so maybe three. Once he’d seen the brothers admiring the shooting range for as long as his ego demanded, Jesse offered to show them to their dorms.

As they walked through the campus Jesse pointed out the extension of the canteen jutting out from the main building. Further along the path he nodded to the sports hall. “Behind that is where we do drills in the mornin’,” he scowled a little at the trail that headed behind the rectangular building. After walking in relative silence they reached an old house that Jesse swiped them into. Stepping into the foyer they took in the new surroundings.

The ceiling was higher than what Genji would expect of a dormhouse, and had an impressive double staircase with a doorway in the arch beneath it. The colour scheme was quite clearly red even if Genji’s visor gave it an orange hue. Along the walls there were banners emblazoned with red logos and fluffy throws over the black leather couches. A thick book had been abandoned on one of the dark wood coffee tables.

“You know what team you’re on, friends?” The question made little to no sense to Genji. Stepping forwards with an affirmative nod Hanzo replied, “Hai. Amari-San mentioned a blue team.” The news brought a wide grin to Jesse’s face and he gestured theatrically as he began to lead the way once more, “This way, then.” Spurs glinting in the light from the glass chandelier, their tour guide headed up the stairs. The room that greeted them was larger than the foyer they had just left, with a blue theme and more beanbags than leather couches.

The walls here were also decorated with banners but the logo was different to the ones downstairs. “I always thought Slytherin was more my pace,” Genji commented. McCree stopped mid-stride. “He speaks!” Genji turned to face him pointedly then took an interest in the textured wallpaper on the opposite wall. Genji saw Jesse’s disgruntled look from the corner of his eye before the cowboy picked up the conversation “This is the blue team common room and the dorms are on each side. Hanzo, I saw you on the roster over here..” Genji tuned out their words, heading towards the doorway Jesse pointed towards and looking for his own name amongst the pairs of people written on the screen by the doorway.

 **_Room 7_ **  
**Hanzo Shimada**  
**Jamison Fawkes**

 **_Room 8_ **  
**Genji Shimada**  
**Jesse McCree**

He frowned beneath his mask and stared a hole in the back of Jesse’s hat. Genji was already not looking forward to this school.

“Looks like you’re in room 7 with… oh, Junkrat!” His smile looked too forced. Hanzo looked at Jesse with confusion. Genji smirked beneath his helmet; his brother probably didn't know whether to trust the board or the man dressed as a cowboy as to the name of his roommate. Ignoring the expression on Hanzo’s face, McCree led the way down the wing. As they went Genji counted the room numbers. 5, 6, 7. They stopped at the closed door.

From behind it they could hear something like creaking and then a series of loud crashes. Worried, Jesse opened the door abruptly and stepped in, Hanzo close behind him with Genji lingering back, uninterested.

From behind them, Ganji could just see into the room. The boy wore his shirt open, with patched up cargo shorts revealing the hinge of his knee and peg-like lower leg. His right forearm was missing too, rust coloured metal from the elbow down. He was also on the floor, sprawled out between the beds with his head lifted to see the intruders.

“G’day, mate!” Jamison exclaimed, his voice going from low to high even in those two words. He scrambled to his feet quickly, crawling back onto the messed up bed and beginning to jump up and down. The creaking began again as he cackled to himself. At the foot of the bed he was standing on Genji noticed a handful of bags. Hanzo’s bags.

Hanzo seemed to have noticed them too, if his rigid posture and clenched fists were anything to go by. As though he could feel the anger radiating from him, Jesse sidestepped away from Hanzo and further into the room. “Guess I should introduce you guys,” while Jesse spoke Junkrat continued to bounce obnoxiously, “Hanzo, this is your roomie Junkrat.” Hanzo seemed unsure how to introduce himself to someone bouncing on a bed. Instead of watching Hanzo Genji looked over at the occupied side of the room noticing sheets full of crumbs as well as the assorted mess.

“Good luck, bro.” The tight scowl from Hanzo was worth the extra words and Genji backed away from the door, heading into room 8 without prompting from McCree. He tried the door. Locked. He decided to wait for Jesse..

The cowboy grinned as he saw Genji trying his bedroom door. “Figured you’re Genji then.” They went in and unlike Hanzo’s predicament, Genji’s side of the room was incredibly neat; it looked untouched. On the left side Jesse had a relatively tidy room, with different coloured blankets strewn across the bed and an old TV set stationed on a unit near the door. The shelf above only held books and some movies, that he assumed to be Old Westerns.

Immediately, he headed for his trunk to unpack his few possessions - technology, sheets and upkeep items for his cybernetics. He had a few t shirts at the bottom of his bag but he wasn’t entirely sure if they looked right on his new body so he hadn’t worn them yet. Jesse pointed him towards the walk in closet then watched as Genji picked up the small pile of his clothes and carried them over. Then he picked out his laptop bag, setting it up to charge before dropping onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling. The bed was softer than he was used to.

He listened to McCree pacing around the room, wondering if he was hoping for a conversation. It was looking like he and his roommate were going to get along great, if by great he meant in total silence and never looking at one another again.

The vibration of his phone made him jump slightly, the feeling hollow against his hand. Holding it up over his face, he squinted through the yellow visor to see the words on the screen.

From: Hanzo  
12:43  
_let ds swap roommates_

Some things would never change - Hanzo’s typing capabilities were one of those things. With a sigh, Genji tapped out a reply and sent it, dropping his hand down on his stomach.

To: Hanzo  
12:43  
_i’m sure it’ll be fine, bro._

From: Hanzo  
12:56  
_if its fine s wp with me_

From: Hanzo  
13:04  
_his heirs on fire_


	2. In Russia We Punch Bullies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two finally happened! Sorry it took so long, hopefully it's with the wait :)

Zarya didn’t know when she had become so fond of the outdoors. She didn't even mind the grey British sunlight or the chill that seeped under her skin, deep into her muscles and made her eyelids feel too heavy. It was not the crisp, clean cold from her home in Russia, which made her feel awake and refreshed as she stepped outside. Instead it left half frozen dew on the ground that cracked near her ears as she made herself comfortable lying in the grass, just away from the shade of an old, leafless tree.

The sun was… somewhere behind the cover of grey clouds probably, but she liked to think that if she could see it she’d be able to tell the time of day by its position. She’d been taught how to do as much while she’d been at the Academy after all. But without it she was forced to hold her arm in the air and look at her watch. 14:27. She should have been in class almost quarter of an hour ago, but instead she’d ended up laying on her back in the damp grass. She could feel the back of her top getting wet and cold against her skin, but wasn’t in the mood to move.

It was, at least, a pleasant day.

She listened to the raised voices that came from the playing courts, excited shouts for teammates to pass the ball or guard the goal. Come the end of the day she would be over there practising with her own team, but they were all in their lessons - like she should be. It was the voice that didn't belong on the pitch that got her attention.

“Aren’t you cold?” Mei was walking towards her up the hill, her hands shoved deep inside the pockets of her jacket. Zarya looked the older girl up and down quickly. Mei was dressed for winter, a thick white coat open over her wooly jumper. Realising she was staring Zarya looked quickly away, sitting up more and running her fingers awkwardly through her dyed hair, pretending she wasn’t blushing. “I like the cold. Reminds me of home.”

As she spoke Zarya regretted her fairly basic grasp English, hoping Mei didn’t notice how rough it was. Mei didn’t seem to, and if she did she didn't let on which Zarya was grateful for.

It was hard to tell behind thick glasses and fly away hair - Zarya was glad she didn't have that problem anymore - but Mei looked confused. Maybe it was the goosebumps that had slowly travelled down the sportswoman's arms during their conversation, but it seemed like she didn't buy Zarya’s excuse for being outside on a cold mid October day in thin jeans and a navy vest top.

Mei looked uncomfortable. “I'd sit with you but,” she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as a gust of wind blew across the hill, “I'm not really that good with the cold.” Watching her in her many layers of clothing and fluffy gloves Zarya wondered how Mei would cope living her dream of going to the Arctic. Those posters had to be all over her walls for something, she'd always assumed it was a reminder of a goal to work towards.

Nodding and pushing herself to her feet, Zarya looked back to the school buildings. The canteen would be desolate with it being lesson time and unnervingly quiet. The common room would be the same, just with comfier seats. As much as she wanted to stay outside she supposed she may as well skip her class with good company. 

“Inside. It will be warm,” she suggested with a nod towards the main building. They could linger in one of the corridors once she’d gotten something from the canteen. Zarya stuffed her hands down into her jean pockets, and started making her way towards the main building. It was convenient, and lucky, that they were already close to the canteen.

Zarya pushed the heavy door open and smiled at Mei as she went through. Letting it shut with little to no noise, Zarya sped up to join Mei side by side. Now that they were indoors her shoulders no longer crowded her ears and she slipped off the thick parka hood. Her hair was in an updo as usual with one of her assorted pins. How that hairstyle survived morning drills Zarya would never understand.

Unknown to Zarya, who’d just been maybe staring a little at Mei, Mei had started to talk, “-was yours too?” 

Zarya blinked. “Yes?” Apparently her confused tone of voice had gone unnoticed because Mei just nodded. Zarya let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding as they headed towards one of the many empty tables. All the tables were empty except for one in the far corner where two students sat, shouting their conversation loud enough that the canteen echoed with their voices. “Would you like chocolate?” One pink nailed thumb pointed over her shoulder to the vending machine. Mei smiled but shook her head. While Mei chose a table, away from the two loud boys, Zarya went to get herself something from one of the vending machines by the wall.

She was impatient, jabbing the buttons with her fingertips and hoping the machine would process her request quickly. The machine, for its part, was incredibly polite - it thanked her for her purchase and wished her a good day as it dropped a fruit flavoured protein bar into a small basket for her to collect. She stooped, grabbed it and ripped open the wrapper of the bar and took a small bite.

As she counted her change and slipped it back into the leather wallet it came from, Zarya heard a low coughing laugh from behind her. She shoved her wallet away and turned on her heel with a furrowed brow. Instead of at the table she pointed out to Zarya before, Mei stood across the canteen, crowded by one particular student.

Mako. Mei stumbled back and Zarya’s granola bar was forgotten, dropping out of her hand as she purposefully headed towards the pair. Junkrat wasn’t by Mako’s side now, and his usually piercing voice was quiet.

Zarya’s hand reached out to steady Mei’s shoulder when she stumbled a second time, protective. She leveled her eyeline with Mako with a cold look. “I think you should step back.” Mako didn’t break his gaze with Zarya and purposefully stepped forward.

Zarya heard the heavy thump and tap pattern of Junkrat running, out the canteen doors. She scoffed. Coward.

\---

“You’ve really got to stop doing this kind of thing,” Zarya winced, not at Fareeha’s reproachful tone but at the antiseptic Angela was dabbing on the cut in her face. Angela was nodding too, the reproach in her eyes even stronger. “The administration can and will expel you if you continue like this. You understand this, don’t you?”

“I understand.” 

Fareeha sighed and shook her head, looking to Angela for some kind of back up with her reprimanding. Angela averted her eyes and focused intently on cleaning up the cuts on Zarya’s cheek. She had seen the russian woman in here plenty of times, but this fight seemed to have left her more worse for wear than many of the small scraps that had been broken up in the corridors. She would have a colourful black eye by the evening and her cheek would be covered with a plaster at the least.

Shaking her head again, Fareeha made to leave clapping Angela on the shoulder as she passed her. “No more fights in the canteen Zarya, okay? Last week’s was bad enough. You remember I was supposed to escort the brothers around campus.”  The reminder made Zarya frown slightly; she had been doing extra drills in the morning with Commander Morrison ever since because it had disrupted Fareeha’s school duties. Not waiting for a reply Fareeha shook her head slightly and turned on her heel, closing the door behind her. 

“She’s right you know,” Angela commented, wiping a smear of blood from Zarya’s cheek with an antiseptic covered cloth before gently placing a white plaster over the cut. That was going to stand out in classes.

Zarya groaned and hung her head back once Angela had finished. Everyone telling her the same thing was starting to get old. Then again she was sure her trips to the nurse’s office were also getting pretty old for the academy nurse, and Angela as her assistant. She supposed she was only being seen to by a student because Mako was in the other medical room with the nurse.

If Mako’s little lackey hadn’t ran off to get someone - and just happened to stumble upon Fareeha patrolling the corridors - she might not be in so much trouble. Then again she could have been seriously injured in a skirmish with Mako. He was a big guy, and probably just as strong as she was. She scowled thinking about Fareeha and Junkrat running in together. He’d got away clean after picking on Mei with Mako, and that was what got to her the most.

“Aleksandra,” Angela’s voice brought her back to the present instead of thinking bitterly about the fight, “try to stay out of trouble. For just a week okay?” Angela asked, moving so she could find her eyes. Zarya nodded slowly. She would try, even if it was hard sometimes. Some things just got to her, sometimes she just got so wound up she…

There was a knock at the door. Angela finished cleaning a few splatters of blood from Zaryas chin and then moved to open the door. Zarya expected the nurse to be scowling at her from the other side of the door after cleaning up the badly beaten up Mako in the next room - they’d been separated after one of the student council had ran to get Fareeha. Instead she found herself looking past Angela at the small figure of Mei, still wrapped up in her heavy coat.

“I'm sorry Angela, the nurse said Zarya was in here?” 

Zarya perked up in her seat at Mei’s voice. She was flattered that she’d even thought about coming to see her, the fact that she’d actually done it was something more. Angela moved aside and let Mei into the room. Mei wrung her hands awkwardly in the doorway before coming in and standing beside Zarya. There was a moment of silence.

“Miss Zeigler, can you see to the student at the desk if you’re done with Miss Zaryanova?” Angela looked over her shoulder towards the desk, smiled at the girl on the other side of the desk and then back turned to Zarya. 

“I’ll just go talk to Amelie. You have Mei to keep you company for now.” She left with a smile, and a promise to return within a few minutes, pulling the door to behind her. The two left in the room listened to the French and German accents in the front office for a few moments.

Mei was the first to speak. “I’m glad you’re alright.” Her voice was small and timid from the doorway. Zarya tried to smile, then stopped when it pulled painfully at the cuts on her cheek. Instead she settled for gesturing to the bedside seat, which would probably be a little low for Mei seeing as she was over a foot shorter than Zarya.

“It takes more than that bully to get me down,” Zarya assured her, watching her as she walked across the room and took a seat. Her toes only just touched the ground, but she was sat high enough for the two to talk properly. Mei looked more awkward than Zarya had expected her to, wringing her hands and picking at a loose thread in her jacket instead of looking at her knight in bandages and clean sports gear - she had changed into them so the blood could be washed from her other clothes.

The gym clothes were tight-fitting especially over her shoulders. Zarya almost felt uncomfortable sitting in them in front of Mei. She didn't know why really, her physique was something she was proud of.

Mei looked up quickly. “Thank you!” She bowed her head again, this time respectfully instead of nervously, “You didn't have to step in for me, but I’m glad you did.” She put her hand over Zarya’s, blushing furiously. Her eyes were watering, she looked about to cry. Zarya tried to intervene, putting her own hand over Mei’s and smiling through the pain - wincing too.

“Do not mention it. We are… Uh… Friends right?” Zarya boomed, trying to wave away the fact she was also blushing, and kept looking at Mei’s hand between her own. Her hand was very warm.

Mei blinked slowly, thoughtfully, then beamed, rubbing her eyes with her other hand. “Yeah.” They fell back into silence, looking at one another with smiles on their faces. Zarya took a deep breath, drawing all the courage she had in her.

“So, Mei, I have been wondering-”

“Sorry!” Angela closed the door behind her again, “That took longer than i thought it would. Where were we?”

Zarya and Mei pulled their hands away quickly, looking innocently at the blonde as she walked over to them. Angela apologised again for bursting in so suddenly, but it seemed she had seen nothing that caught her attention. While she jotted down a final few notes on a report card and signed her name Zarya and Mei stole glances at each other. Mei’s blush had brightened, and Zarya was sure the colour had drained from her face at Angela’s sudden reappearance.

Angela turned to Zarya with a serious expression. “You need to go straight to your dorm room, Fareeha’s been told you’re only allowed to leave for your evening meal or if a teacher asks for you. And you have a detention after classes for the rest of the week.” She at least looked sympathetic as she gave these instructions, ones she’d no doubt received from the head of the school council herself.

Mei looked shocked and jumped up from her seat. “But Zarya was just helping me!”

With a sigh Angela turned to the her, patting her shoulder and steering her towards the door. “And you’re not to have visitors. I’m sorry, but regeln sind regeln.” Her German phrase would have been lost on the two who didn’t speak the language had they not heard it a dozen times before. Mei frowned and looked back at Zarya, who avoided her eye, and then let Angela guide her from the room.

Alone for a moment, Zarya sighed. Detention after classes wasn't too bad, considering it was already a wednesday. She had saved Mei from another free period of being tormented by Roadhog, and it had been worth it. Maybe Mei hadn’t really needed rescuing - she was far from a damsel in distress - but it had made Zarya feel good.

And maybe Mei would notice her more now. She’d like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation  
> Regeln sind regeln - rules are rules


	3. Lesbian Detection Prevention Agent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lesbian Detection Prevention Agent - Jesse McCree. Reporting for duty ;)
> 
> We stayed up till 2 am writing this... on a college night... you're welcome :p
> 
> Also sorry for the gap between updates :3

She coughed and screwed up her face. Angela chuckled and moved back to the shelves behind the front desk. She was left manning the nurse’sdesk while the nurse herself was on a break. There was a small thunk as the inhaler dropped against the bottom of a small plastic box - labeled 'Amélie' in Angela's neat handwriting. With a smile she turned back to the Amélie, who had finished coughing but not making a face.

“You always make that face,” Angela commented, putting a hand on Amélie’s upper arm and rubbing her thumb slowly up and down. It didn't help, but Amélie was glad she at least cared. She coughed again. The taste of the steroid spray was still fresh on her tongue.

Angela disappeared into a back room without a word, leaving Amélie to herself for a few minutes. She took a seat behind the desk, still slightly warm from Angela being sat here moments ago, and picked up the nearest magazine. It was in german, and judging from the pictures some kind of scientific journal or the like. She sighed, putting it back down from where she got it and picked another from a small pile. Also in german, but this time the cover was decorated with pretty women in even prettier clothing.

Angela came back into the room, with a glass of water in her hand, to find Amélie flicking through the pages of the magazine. She looked up as the nurse’s assistant approached, raising an eyebrow and pointing to a cute outfit Angela would never consider. “Is this what you wear outside school, Ange?” Angela blushed and, after putting the glass of water down on a free coaster, snatched the magazine from Amélie and put it back under the medical and scientific ones.

Amélie giggled, taking a sip of the water and never losing eye contact with Angela, flushed and flustered. She supposed maybe she wasn't meant to have found that. She certainly didn’t know the academically driven woman had enough interest in fashion to buy magazines, and she’d known her for years.

“You never fail to surprise me.” At that Angela tried to defend herself, stammering that it was just something to read when she was bored, easier to flick through than a scientific journal, more for the nurse than herself although they both knew all these excuses were just that. Excuses.

Defeated, Angela took the second seat behind the desk beside Amélie. She took a sip of the water too, putting it back into the centre of the coaster with a satisfied smile. Sometimes Amélie forgot how tidy she was, and then she came behind the desk and she was reminded.

Everything had a place, loose papers in one stack and files in another, magazines kept right on the edge of the desk in reach of the waiting room chairs. Pens and pencils were separated into different pots, other stationary neatly organised in a small tray beside them. The coaster sat beside the tray, and the rest of the desk was clear aside from Amélie’s medical file. Angela was dealing with that at present, so it didn’t matter that it wasn’t in a particular place. She checked a small box on a loose paper, signed her name, the date and a time and slipped it into her folder, before adding it to the small pile.Then they sat in silence for a while, drinking the water and watching the clock. 

“I think you’d look good in this one.”

Angela turned to see what Amélie was looking at. A short pleated skirt, white with a orangey-red belt. She laughed and looked at her current clothes - dirty lab coat over a dark, baggy tshirt. She still had her hair kept out of her face with her safety goggles, having come straight from a lab tech lesson. “I’m not so sure, Amélie. But you’d look nice in this.”

She was pointing to a pair of skinny fit jeans, pastel purple. The model was wearing a loose fitted white blouse with them that just skimmed the waist band. Amélie frowned. 

“You don't think so?” Angela asked, looking from the picture to Amélie. She could definitely see the younger woman wearing the combination, especially the white shirt. It would contrast well with her skintone, even if it wouldn't bring out the amber in her eyes. But Amélie trailed one finger over the slightly pixilated picture of the jeans sadly. “They’d blend too much with… well,” She hugged her arms around her stomach and frowned.

Angela gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth dramatically. “I’m so sorry Amélie, I didn't mean to-” Angela broke off into a stream of rushed German Amélie had no hope of understanding. She recognised a mild curse among the words that she assumed were apologies.

She put her hand on Angela’s shoulder trying to silence her. Looking at her, Angela sighed and hung her head, looking down at the magazine and scanning the page for something better to suggest. There was nothing on this page, so she flicked to the next, sighing as she yet again found nothing. There were plenty of skirts and dresses she was sure were too plain for Amélie to ever want to wear, but aside from that she was stuck for options. She just sat there and sighed.

Amélie placed a hand over her’s, trying to get her attention as she made to turn the page again. “It’s fine, you know. I don't even think about it when I'm with… people.” She blushed, cheeks taking a slightly red undertone beneath the pale blue of her skin. Angela tried to pretend she wasn't staring, clearing her throat and looking back to the magazine one last time before she closed it. Amélie moved her hand quickly away, looking down at her knees while Angela returned the magazine to the pile. “I have a lot of work Amélie, I don't want to push you out but…”

“No, I should go eat anyway. I’m on my lunch break.” Amélie rose from her chair beside Angela and walked to the other side of the desk where she was sure she’d left her bag when she came in. 

it wasn't there. The panic must've shown in her eyes, since Angela laughed and handed the black leather satchel over the desk to her. It wasn't heavy, filled with a few small books and a notepad, as well as her stationery from classes. Angela watched Amélie check her bag, as though something might have been removed while the two had been sat right beside it. “What class do you have next?” 

Amélie looked up from the contents of her bag with a thoughtful expression. “Science I think. Do you fancy coming to answer the test papers for me?” They both laughed, but Angela shook her head and reminded Amélie of the work she had to finish. Satisfied with her bag now, she slipped it over her shoulder.

They said their goodbyes at the doorway with a lingering hug. “Have fun with your work.” Amélie knew Angela would. 

“Good luck with your tests.” Amélie gave Angela a grimace at that but nodded and thanked her all the same. Angela watched her go down the corridor, blushing when she turned back to wave. 

\- x -

It was a shame she didn't have more time to spend with Amélie really, besides classes and a few stolen minutes at lunch times. They’d have to arrange something for sometime when they were both free.

With her mobile out she took her seat behind the desk.

 

To: Fareeha

       12:24

Would you be alright if I asked Amélie to study with us tonight if she’s free Xx

 

She waited for a while, her head down working her way through the small pile of forms she had to fill in. Then she doodled on the corner of a page she had decided wasn't important enough to be filed away. By the time her phone buzzed beside her arm the corner of the page was decorated with a small garden of flowers and trees, with a childlike sun right in the corner.

 

From: Fareeha 

       12:31

Of course. Maybe she could bring Lena as well. That girl needs to study one day or she’ll fail her autumn tests.

 

That made Angela laugh. Imagine Amélie and Lena actually interacting peacefully without being at each other’s throats. They were in for a fun time if they did come together.

 

To: Amélie

       12:32

Sorry I didn't ask while you were here, but would you and Lena like to study tonight with me and Fareeha? We can use our room if the common room is too busy to concentrate Xx

 

From: Amélie

       12:32

That would be wonderful. I suppose I could ask Lena.

 

Angela appreciated the fast reply and smiled at the screen of her phone as she messaged Fareeha to let her know what Amélie had said. She guessed they had better prepare something for the girls, more than their usual vegetable crisps and tea. Although Angela highly doubted either of their guests would mind tea.

\- x -

Just before classes were over Fareeha had excused herself to set up her impromptu study group early. She dragged over a couple of the less damaged beanbags - ones that Junkrat hadn’t got to when he’d been unsupervised - and surrounded one of the deep brown coffee tables. With a little grunt Fareeha pulled the big couch closer to the table and smiled at her handiwork. Perfect. Far enough away from the main area that they wouldn’t be constantly distracted by everyone, but close enough that their friends could still be called over to help with some of the more specialist questions. 

Ones that Angela and her A grade mind couldn't quite get. 

With a pleased nod, Fareeha headed for her dorm to grab some of the books they'd need and a few of the recent assignments from their classes. They're weren't many that she was still working on. It’d be a good idea get a start on the work until the girls returned from their classes. 

As she was about to leave her room she noticed something out of place on Angela’s desk and swiftly stepped over to put the pen back in it’s correct tub. 

She nodded to herself. Much better.

The door fell shut behind her as she left the dorm, and she headed back up to the common room as her phone buzzed. Fareeha plopped down on the squishy couch before picking her phone from her pocket.

 

From: Habibi

16:53

hey sweetie got any plans now you've finished studying hard?? :)

 

Fareeha grinned down at her phone and clutched it close to tap back a text.

 

To: Habibi

16:54

I’ve actually been convinced to set up a study group to do more in my own time. For a friend.

 

From: Habibi

16:54

aw babe no :( you need to have some time for yourself sometimes you know

 

From: Habibi

16:54

and me <3 

 

To: Habibi

16:55

We can skype afterwards if you don’t mind waiting? <3

 

From: Habibi

16:55

been waiting since summer what's a few hours ;p 

 

The seat dipped next to her and Fareeha blinked right up at Angela in surprise - who she found grinning right back at her.

“I wonder who that could be then?” Her German twang mixed the w as usual.

Angela’s eyebrows were raised as if honestly curious and she leant over as if to steal a glance at her texts. Face warm, Fareeha guarded her phone to her chest but it was no use, it just confirmed Angela’s suspicions. “I’m sure it  _ couldn't _ be Ebonique, now could it?”

“Well, yes. It’s Ebonique.”

 

From: Habibi   
16:57

good luck nerding out with your friends i’ll be waiting ;*

 

To: Habibi

16:58

I won’t be long, Amira. <3

 

“I’ll go get my neurobiology assignment, then.” Angela patted her lap once then stood.

“That’s good..?” Fareeha watched her go, head tipped slightly as she wondered how she'd be able to help with something so complicated. Maybe she could throw it in the fire, save Angela the trouble. One word to Junkrat and it'd be up in flames.

Of course, then their study session would be ruined by sprinklers and a fire alarms. 

Again. 

“Mon dieu, you’re insufferable!” Amélie’s disgruntled voice announced the arrival of the other two girls.

“Just accept it love; chip sarnies are the only way to properly enjoy potatoes, and I’ll be quiet!” Fareeha sighed. Those guys could really argue about  _ anything _ . Even bad British food. It was just their bad luck the two of them had ended up as roommates. 

She rolled her eyes as they entered and slipped her phone back into her pocket. No need to share her girlfriend with the entire school - which would be the case if Lena found out. That girl really couldn't hold onto a secret. 

Thankfully Angela returned before the two could get into the details of why French cuisine was much better in every carbohydrate aspect. Honestly, Fareeha had her own ideas of what made a suitable side for a meal, but she was sure they wouldn't want another contradicting opinion thrown into the cultural mix.

Angela sat herself down on the beanbag between the two girls and gestured for both Lena and Amelie to get out their work. Honestly she was the Goddess of Mediation and-

“Mashed potatoes are much better.” 

The sigh Fareeha gave was legendary. “Okay, so we’ve established potatoes can be cooked several ways - can we talk about something that we will actually need one day? Like math maybe? Science?” Lena had the humility to at least look slightly chastised and started to get out her unfinished Biology assignment. Beside her Amélie nodded and pulled out her own.

Lena’s was crumpled in the corners. Amélie’s was pristine.

It took almost an hour for Fareeha to work her way through her own papers, rebuffing any attempts Angela made to help her with the more difficult questions and even ignoring the occasional buzz of her phone.

Once she was done with her own assignments the real work began. Lena, as usual, was behind on her own paper. And she was expecting help. With Angela giving Amélie a hand already she supposed she was free enough to spend a few moments with Lena, although her phone was burning a hole in her back pocket. Not to mention, Lena’s attention was wavering at best.

She listened to the tap of heeled boots coming up the stairs. The clatter of spurs told her exactly who it was.

“Alright ladies?” he asked, tipping his hat to them with his cigar between his teeth. 

They hardly looked up. Fareeha at least gave him a brief nod and a smile before returning to helping Lena. The girl was really struggling, and her chewed up pen was paying the price.

Beside them Angela and Amélie barely moved. They had their heads together, Angela talking through one of the complex tests that could be carried out on a type of acid maybe.  Fareeha didn't know when they had swapped to a chemistry paper, but it seemed Angela was more than capable in this area of science too. Such a show off sometimes, but it suited her.

Instead of acknowledging her best friend, Angela was too engrossed in her science-talk and finished her sentence with a smile and a flourish.

When it was Amélie’s time to answer the question, after practically being given the answers, Angela became too engrossed in her protégé. The french word seemed to fit Amélie well.

Fareeha noticed when she glanced up, but said nothing. Jesse though, he noticed and snickered a little as he walked to one of the couches, fishing in his pockets - possibly for his lighter. He only perched on the edge of the leather seat. 

Angela was smiling slightly as she watched Amélie work. Subtlety had never been her strong point. The point was proven when, much to Jesse’s apparent amusement, she reached up and brushed a few strands of hair back behind Amélie’s ear. Her cheeks were tinged pink as her hand lingered for a second or two against the Parisian’s cheek before being quickly removed.

Jesse laughed as he rose to his feet, something white tucked behind his ear, and tapped his unlit cigar against Angela’s head.

“Gedda room,” he muttered as he passed them by.

Lena responded with a fit of giggles, eyes flicking between the two blushing women as they struggled to find a clever retort to the cowboy’s comment. Fareeha just sat silently and waited for calm to continue and for Angela to put her focus back on chemistry.

The kind that would help her pass tests, not the kind that was obvious between her and her pretty crush.

\- x -

McCree sighed, a puff of smoke blooming white against the black sky before being swept away by the wind. He often had poetic thoughts while he was out here alone, although they were often stolen from comic book descriptions or the like.

He put out his smoke and returned to the common room, finding himself not entirely alone after all.

“It's only a few more weeks now. Mother already said you can visit for the Autumn holidays. You’ll love it, especially Hallowe'en.” Fareeha was on her laptop again, feet up on one of the tables while she spoke to a girl Jesse hadn't seen before. He'd heard her out here talking before though.

Fareeha had earphones in, so didn't hear Jesse as he paced. It also meant he could only eavesdrop on half the conversation. A shame really, the girl on the other end of the camera was easy on the eye.

He looked around, for any of the girls who'd been studying with Fareeha. He spotted Lena curled up in the corner of a sofa, hugging one of the revision books for her like a teddy. She was mumbling in her sleep, but he couldn't make out the words. It was just like her to fall asleep in the “enemy” common room.

“Don’t give me that, I know you love an excuse to dress up.” A pause. “Oh, and what about that time you got me grounded for taking me to that friend's party just so you could wear a tacky costume?”

Another long pause, a loud voice from the earphones. Fareeha sighed. “It was very tacky, I'm sorry.”

Jesse glanced over at the silence that followed. Fareeha was staring at the screen, smiling and listening. And maybe blushing, but that was ridiculous surely. The headmistress’ daughter didn't blush.

With a satisfied nod he turned to leave, heading to his room to give her some privacy.

He entered his room, looked around and then it hit him.

Genji was watching as he threw open one of his drawers - even paused his youtube video to watch him rummaging frantically through his underwear until he pulled out a pair of socks that seemed to be more patches and darning than actual sock.

Jesse didn't give him a chance to question it, charging out of the room and to Angela and Fareeha’s dorm.

He pulled the pair of socks apart, shoved one over the door handle and sighed with relief. If those two lovebirds were in there no one would walk in on them now. Crisis averted.

He grinned at himself, looked to make sure Fareeha hadn't looked up or Lena woken up. They were still where he had left them.

But… there was still one more task for tonight's hero.

He charged downstairs like a crusader, taking them two at a time, missing the last three as he jumped down. He rolled over to the door to Lena and Amélie’s room, combat style, and jammed the sock over  _ this _ doorknob so hard a darned seam split. 

 

He cursed softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little known to Jesse, Amélie and Angela were indeed in the same room... working very hard at that chemistry... on paper. They have a test tomorrow.
> 
> One confused Lena returns to her room at 3 am to find a sock on her doorknob...


	4. Lena Oxton and the Sexuality Crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A working title was 'Fight or Dyke Instinct'
> 
> Another chapter and another night spent writing until 3am, so proud of us :')  
> Enjoy guys!

Lena “Tracer” Oxton might not live her life entirely chronologically, but that was quickly wearing thin as her go to excuse for being late for morning track. 

When she finally woke up to maybe the sixth or seventh repetition of her alarm, she had five minutes until she should be down there. Springing out of bed, getting caught up in the sheets as she tried to break free of them, she double checked the time and sighed. Then she proceeded to speed around her dorm in a series of short blue flashes, cursing a certain roommate who hadn't bothered to wake her. If said roommate had even made it back to their room last night after the study session.

She threw her door open as she strapped on her chronal accelerator with one hand and made to leave in a hurry. With a groan she turned back to the door. Probably shouldn't leave it open.

She grimaced at the ripped and dirty sock hung on the door handle. Reluctant to remove it, or even touch it, she pulled the door closed quickly by the wood and winced as it slammed in her face.

She didn't have time to waste recovering from the crash of wood into the doorframe, she was already running so late.

The common room was abandoned as she blinked past, blue light lingering behind her like a streamer. There were remnants of breakfasts, brought back to the comfier seats and warmer room against the academy rules. She imagined Fareeha had been tracking down the perpetrators all morning, no doubt a wild goose chase after a well known suspect. One day Junkrat was going to get himself and Mako into real some trouble.

The way was clear all the way to the main gates of the academy, just the few turrets set up by Torbjorn that seemed to follow her as she went, and the omnic sentry guarding the doors from his normal location.

Bastion beep booped a greeting and waved.

Tracer shot by in a flash of blue.

“Mornin’ love!” she called, as she flickered into existence in front of the omnic and beamed, before she was gone again a few moments later. She smiled at the pleased whistling that followed her for a few seconds, glad she had made Bastion smile. Or whatever omnics did. Maybe their lights flashed? She wasn't sure.

The train of thought distracted her enough that she crashed into the chain link fence that ran around the grassy pitch instead of going smoothly through the gates. The clatter caught the attention of a few of her classmates.

A few laughs followed her as she walked towards the grey haired man in the centre of the group. “You're late, Oxton,” he told her as she reached him, his voice gruff. She nodded. She knew. 

He sighed and folded his arms, the leather jacket he wore creaking slightly. It was cracked with age, navy blue with some red and white detailing. The number 76 filled up the space on his back, between his shoulder blades and down to the small of his back.

“Sorry Commander,” Lena muttered quickly. She started to make some excuse, but he held up his hand. Didn't need to waste time hearing it.

“Another lap for red team, you can thank Oxton for that one.” A chorus of groans lit up the cold air around her and she sighed, making sure her eye roll was kept to a small one so Commander Morrison. 

Lena took her space next to Lucio, glancing at his out-turned rollerskates as he leant one way and one of the little wheels squeaked - attracting a cold stare from 76. Shivering, Lena stared over at the track wishing they could run already just so she could warm up. Unluckily for her, she’d managed to leave her sweatpants in the wash this time so she was left in her regulation  _ small _ shorts. 76 finally paused for a breath, then blew his whistle and pointed at the track - Lena and Lucio were at the front of the group.

“Lucio!” The two took a second to high-five at the end of the first lap.

“Lena,” their words were being punctuated by heavy breaths now that they got into the long haul of the morning run, “why did McCree leave a sock on your door last night?”

“He did that??” She didn't remember much from last after the study group. She vaguely knew that she'd fallen asleep upstairs in the blue team common room and wandered down to her own room around 4 am. But other than that it was something of a jumbled mess of incoherent thoughts that might have been dreamt up. She was very sure she hadn't actually walked into the headmistress’ office naked. Pretty sure. Hopefully. “What a plonker.” She laughed as she went, barely out of breath.

As they lapped a wheezing Gabriel wrapped up in that edgy black hoodie with a skull on a back, Mercy gave them a little wave holding Widowmaker’s inhaler in her other hand. She had a huge white snood and Fareeha’s big leather jacket. It was huge on her. But she definitely looked more comfortable and warm than the runners. They could hear her cheering them on from her spot beside the commander, even the few she wasn't particular friends with.

When she heard the familiar chinking noises of an approaching cowboy, Lena slowed down and gave him an exasperated look, “Take your socks back, Jesse!” She jogged backwards to finish her sentence and give him a threatening point, before turning and catching up with Lucio. Socks weren’t worth losing her place in the daily race between her and Lucio, so she blinked a couple of times to make up the distance.

After a thorough dressing down from 76, Lena headed over to the locker room to actually get undressed. 

She stood beside Mei and slowly taking off the Chronal Accelerator - it was much easier to put on than take off. After putting it down safely under one of the benches she was alone to undress and then join whoever else was lagging behind in the showers. Once she'd pulled off her top and bra she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself, then struggled to get out of the rest of her clothes to shuffle over to the showers.

Humming to herself, she put her sponge under her arm, ready for the trials of the communal shower block. 

Her tune was cut off when there was a sudden bump against her shoulder and she looked up quizzically to find Amelie sneering at her in greeting. Totally naked. Her black hair was down for once, falling over her chest and she was still sort of damp, her towel clearly left somewhere else. With a blink she continued on her way a little quicker, but took the chance to glance back at her hip-wiggling walk as she sashayed away. 

Lena made a tiny noise that may or may not have been a small ‘woah.’

During her shower it was like the image of Amelie’s unhelpfully attractive figure had been branded into her eyelids, and nothing she could do took it away for long. It was distracting. She hadn't dropped the soap this many times before now. Honestly that girl was infuriating, her existence seemed to be purely to spite Lena.

\- x -

In the evening, dinner was another problem. The canteen was divided, much to the teachers annoyance, into cliques instead of whatever neat ordered seating plan they had in mind. These cliques though, at least tonight, bothered Lena much more than the teachers or so it seemed.

Lena had been dragged into the “study group” clique with Angela and Fareeha with few tagalongs, the loudest being Jesse of course, and his jabbering about the new member of the shooting club. Apparently Hanzo was quite the skilled shot with his bow - who even sees a bow and arrow this day and age he made clear he didn't know - but Lena was only half listening. 

Across the room the science club were chattering quietly, Mei and Satya discussing some projected hologram on their table with Junkrat attempting to disrupt it with his hand. Winston was also at that table, eating something that Lena really didn’t need a science degree to know it had some relation to peanut butter.

She sighed into her mash, half wishing it was a chip sarny, half wishing she was sitting somewhere that wasn't almost directly opposite Amélie Lacroix. To her credit she hadn't been sitting there blushing the whole time. But neither had she made any kind of eye contact with the girl or anyone sitting beside her. 

What if they knew!

“Everything okay?” Lena looked up as Angela put a hand on her arm, her expression concerned. Lena nodded quickly. It was one thing to be slightly down, it was another to have someone call her out on it. But she didn't mind it from Angela.

Instead of replying honestly, which would have been easy enough given the company if she asked one of the party to please leave for a moment and maybe not return anytime soon, she made an excuse about tiring herself out on the track both this morning and in extra training. Angela didn't seem to buy it, but she nodded, patted her shoulder and offered her a glass of water from the middle of the table.

After dinner, Lena approached Hana with a thoughtful frown, sitting beside her as she played some weird first person shooter on her favourite game console. She'd watched her play it a lot before, although her ranking had increased dramatically since last time. Lena remembered the girl boasting about it over breakfast a few days ago, some new personal record maybe. 

She took a minute to think of how to word her predicament.

“Hana, whaddya say we don't talk about boys at sleepovers no more?”

Hana gave her a weird side eye look before pausing her game and shuffling round to face her full on. She looked a little confused, and ready to receive whatever the latest gossip was. Lena chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Since when has  _ that  _ ever happened,” Hana said with a laugh. Lena cocked her head to the side slightly. “I thought you liked girls?” 

For a while there was a strange silence between them, with Hana smiling and drumming on her knees while Lena looked somewhat shocked with her mouth hanging slightly open. Trust the young meca pilot to steal her thunder yet again, beating her to the punch of her own coming out.

Lena laughed, and Hana seemed glad to hear it. “Guess I'm not too subtle, am I?” she commented offhandedly, running her hands through her messy hair.

Hana was smiling a little bit, shaking her head. “Subtle? You stare at Emily every time we go to the pub!” Without another thought on Lena’s dramatic reveal of old news, Hana rummaged through a box filled with wires and gaming doodads Lena couldn't name, and brought a spare controller from the bottom. “Here, it's a little broken but it works,” she said brightly as Lena took it.

They settled back on the beds in the room, feet up, shoes on and Lena made a mental note to avoid Satya for at least the next week if she got dirt on her sheets. What was the worst someone who could conjure small sentry turrets out of thin air could do after all? 

She wasn't sure what game Hana wanted her to play, but whatever it was she was prepared to be beaten badly every time. 


	5. D.va and the Grand Day Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took ages to get this out because El had a load of work to be doing and I was too lazy to do it by myself so... yeah enjoy this cos we enjoyed writing it for you until 2 am (one day we will sleep)

Hana looked at herself in the mirror, pointedly ignoring Satya in the background of her reflected portrait as she applied her mascara with a steady hand that only came from pro gaming. She winced each time the brush came close to her eye, sticking her tongue out as she focused. It was a delicate procedure.

The knock at the door startled her enough that her wand brushed against her cheek.

She turned, wiping the smudge away, with her tongue still stuck between her lips, and scowled at the intruder through the closed door. No more than a second after she had knocked Lena let herself into the room with a loud “Hiya luvs,” and a winning smile. Hana laughed, but Satya did not seem impressed. She turned back to working on her arm, tinkering with the elaborate mechanisms in a way that made even D.va, a veteran of many cyberspace battles, feel a little squeamish.

“So which one do you think for tonight Han?” Lena asked, holding up two shirts. Both neatly pressed on their hangers.

Hana looked between them and squinted, trying to dress Lena in her mind. One was mostly plain, a pale blue with navy Paisley on the cuffs, hem and collar. The other was more eye-catching, with ruffles down the front around the buttons and a tie string that let it be pulled in at the waist for a more fitted style. She shrugged and sighed. “What about that sleeveless flannel one. She'll really notice you in that.” She spoke in a deadpan.

Lena frowned, “It's down in laundry,” then realised what else Hana had said and blushed furiously. She stammered for a while, finally blurting out, “‘She’? Who's ‘she’?”

Hana fixed her with a look.

Lena withered under her stare like a plant in the keeping of Junkrat.

Hana rolled her eyes and finished with her mascara wand to tackle the question of blush. Cherry Blossom or Princess Pink? Ignoring Lena completely now, she picked up Princess Pink and dipped in the fat makeup brush and patted the slightly glittery powder on her cheeks. Beautiful. If Lena happened to be stammering about there being no ‘she’ Hana was way too busy to hear that!

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Satya staring blankly at Lena, who had now latched onto the other girl for opinions on her shirt choice.

“You could wear a dress,”Satya told her casually, “much less to go wrong.”

Hana turned on her dressing table stool suddenly, eyes wide with a big grin on her face. “Yeah, Lena, wear a dress!”

Lena looked pale, looked down at her shoes and slowly shuffled a little towards the door. “I’m gonna go ask Luce, see you guys!” She left quickly, closing the door with a bang behind her. Hana listened to her hurried footsteps as she jogged away from the room, and the idea of wearing a dress, as fast as seemed polite for a British girl. Hana wondered if the thought of not wearing pants had scared the blink out of her.

Hana cackled to herself and turned back to her makeup. “D.va one Tracer nil!”

Satya looked at her and shook her head, sparing her little more than a glance telling her, “You don’t deserve that point.”

It took about another half hour for them both to be ready, for Hana to finish with her make up and for Satya to clogs down the case for the section of her arm she had been working on. By the time they were leaving Hana was sure that she and her roommate wouldn't be talking for the rest of the night, and that her eye liner would be the most glittery out if the others who were actually going. She was excited though, for a chance to get out of the academy and sneak into the closest pub with the older students. If Lena was allowed inside with her stupid fumbling over her words and blushing every time the cute bartender asked if they needed anything.

She was ready, she was so ready!

 

 

She was kinda bored to be honest.

The table was alight with laughter at the expense of Angela and her apparently blossoming romance with Amélie. Of course she was furiously denying everything, although her attempts to deflect the conversation elsewhere were becoming half hearted. In the end she just sighed and shook her head, smiling shyly and refusing to look away from the bubbles her pink drink.

To save her, Genji cleared his throat and spoke for the first time, tearing the attention away from the blushing medic. “Why isn't McCree here? This seems like a scene he'd enjoy.”

Hana didn't really listen to Angela's explanation of the cowboy’s weekend job, the one he'd got a few months back to help pay for his smoking habits and buy a few luxuries for himself. Instead she busied herself on her phone, tapping away at letters with a half smile on her lips as she watched the words appear on the instant messenger.

 **_YOU:_ ** _Pub nite is soooo boring. U free?_

She waited for a little while, watching the minutes tick over on her phone screen until the message scene icon popped up and a notification in tiny text that said ‘SAGIKKUN is typing’. She waited for another moment. Truthfully she hadn't even been sure her online friend would be awake this late, what time even was it over in America right now.

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _sup chica No fun 4 gamer girl 2nite_

Hana sighed and typed back quickly.

 **_You:_ ** _wanna game!!! >:( _

**_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _How bout when ur home_

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _Rematch_

 **_You:_ ** _ur on. wat game?_

There was a pause in the replies. SAGIKKUN hadn't seen this message apparently, so Hana used the time to go fetch herself another fizzy drink from the bar. No one reacted to her getting to her getting to her feet, just Genji seemed to wince at her chair scraping against the floor. Everyone continued as if nothing had happened.

She passed Satya and Zarya sitting at a table together, probably talking about how to make either a gun or prosthetic better than it was already. While Zarya was by no means uneducated, she definitely wasn't as tech minded as Satya.

At the bar she stopped beside Gabriel, clad in his usual black hoodie and jeans get up, with a bottle of cheap beer at his side. Like she had, he sat texting on his phone as though there was no one more interesting in the pub. Every now and then he took a swig from the bottle and thunder it back against the counter.

“What can I get you love?”

The girl behind the bar smiled warmly, her red hair tied back in a ponytail with a few rebellious strands falling into her eyes. She brushed them away, her efforts in vain as they fell back over her face. Her northern-english accent was a blunt change from Lena’s southern.

She ordered a lemonade, no ice with extra lemon slices, and then waited again.

She was still bored, and looked around for something to do. Her eyes, as intrusive as it might be, settled on the messages bouncing back and forth between Gabriel and his boyfriend Andrew.

Some she barely even got a chance to read with how quickly the emo boy would tap out his reply and hit send, as though he was fueled by pure emotion. Hana knew the only times she could reply that fast were when she was excited or when she was screaming in text chat to a medic that she needed health in an online game. Honestly she wasn't sure what the discussion was about, but it seemed like more of an argument than a debate, where Gabriel was taking all the dama. Sometimes he apologised, other times he defended himself. He never seemed to lash out himself though, regardless what Andrew said.

“Here you go, one lemonade with extra lemon.” The glass was damp with condensation as the chilled drink was served. Hana smiled, thanked the girl and sipped some while she stood spying on Gabriel's intense text conversation.

She didn't hear the heavy footprints behind her as someone approached, or the clearing of a throat even though beside her Gabriel stiffened.

She felt the hand on her shoulder though as she was gently but firmly steered a away from the sulking boy. Coach Morrison took her place, ordering himself a beer and striking up a conversation with Gabriel.

The hum of her phone in her pocket distracted her from eavesdropping on them, and she turned her attention back to the cyber world, the world she was comfortable in.

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _u pick_

 **_YOU:_ ** _No fair. U always make me pick :’(_

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _ur used 2 it then :p_

 **_YOU:_ ** _hate u!_

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _ily2 <3 _

Replying as fast and sassily as she could one handed, she headed back to the table with her drink. Lena passed her with a smile - that looked more like a pained grimace - as she headed up towards the bar herself. Hana almost laughed looking at her, choosing to giggle into a mouthful of very lemony lemonade and message SAGIKKUN some more.

 **_YOU:_ ** _Soooo… the PotG 2nite - That one gay frd mite ask the girl on a date FINALLY!!! :O_

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _:O !!!_

 **_YOU:_ ** _IKR!!!!! So proud :’)_

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _isn't ur snow dance thing coming up Shd ask her 2 it_

 **_YOU:_ ** _Yh, Dec 21st. Just over a month now! ^^ U askin cos u wanna b my date :p_

 **_SAGIKKUN:_ ** _luv 2 :* but I'm busy_

 **_YOU:_ ** _K that's gd :p_

Hana sighed and drank some more of her drink, looking over to where Lena was standing at the bar drumming her fingers on the counter as she waited nervously for her drink. The girl was coming get back with a pint of beer with a foamy head on top. Lena looked at it disapprovingly and scooped it a little with her finger as she said thank you.

She looked up quickly, as if determined to say something more, but after opening and closing her mouth a few times like a koi carp she just said thank you a second time and turned back to the table frowning.

After a few more empty glasses piled up on the table in front of the laughing friends Fareeha and Angela started to slide their jackets back on, Fareeha holding her phone and grinning dopily as she got up. Hana honestly wasn’t sure if that was the alcohol or something else. Hana didn’t look up from the dregs of her lemonade until Angela gave her a pointed look.

With a long sigh, Hana deliberately drank the rest of her drink as slowly as she could without incurring the wrath of the older student and pushed her chair out with a squeak.

“Okay, _mom_.” Angela just shrugged, satisfied, and Hana slid her jacket on to follow them in defeat. Tracer stared longingly over at the bar as she stood up. Satya joined them as they left the pub into the frigid, late October air.

As they got out of the pub Hana saw a very familiar hat heading towards them attached to the outfit of a… hardware shop worker? A few steps closer and yep, it was Jesse, embarrassing belt buckle and all. Jesse tipped his hat, “Hey guys, why y’all leavin’ so soon?”

“It is curfew soon,” Angela pointed out, stepping closer to the cowboy to flick his arm gently, ”Try not to forget that after you’ve been drinking.”

He chuckled. “No promises, Angie.” With a mini-salute he pushed open the door, to hear Lieutenant Wilhelm yelling something about the football to Commander Morrison. What followed was a noise that was probably the Lieutenant accidentally splintering a defenceless table with his fist slamming.

Hana looked at Fareeha as she checked her phone again, wondering what she could be so keen on keeping up to date with. Beside the egyptian, Angela was laughing and nudging her in the ribs with a knowing look. Angela didn't seem like the alcohol had touched her at all, but she had limited herself to two glasses of wine, and only so much because today was the first time she’d been away from the academy in a while. For the others, who took the trip to the pub and small village every few weeks, it wasn't so special as it could be.

“What’s so funny?” Hana asked, sticking her nose exactly where it didn't belong but also exactly where she wanted it. She had no issues being the nosy younger student.

Angela stopped laughing, straightened up and shook her head with a smile. “Nothing much, just… Fareeha’s mother sent her a message.”

Hana tutted with disappointment. Fareeha was such a teacher’s pet.

 

 

After they returned to the dorms some of them went straight to bed. Angela and Fareeha went right to their room at least, once they had told the others to make sure they didn't make too much noise and didn't sleep too late.

Hana had time for a good two hours of gaming with the irritating SAGIKKUN before there was a commotion in the hallway that she could hear even with her headphones on and turned all the way up. She hit pause, drawing an irritated sigh from the gamer on the other end of the party chat, “Brb!” She slid off her headset, hung it up on the hook on the wall beside her monitor and made to peer out of the door of her dorm.

Satya hadn't come to bed to read or write yet, or even to tinker with her arm. Hana was surprised, but thankful. She had enough of the girl staring at the back of her head without the distraction while she was gaming.

When the door opened she was met with the full blast of Lena yelling something almost inaudible as her anger seemed to drown out her words. Jesse had said something, and Hana didn't quite believe what she had heard, but it sounded like he had gone and asked Lena’s crush out on a date or something. Or maybe to the dance. She wasn't sure.

“You did what!” Lena shouted, obviously too annoyed to bother doing what Angela and Fareeha had told them to do - keep it down. She looked livid when the two came into view of the small crack Hana had made between the door and the frame.

Jesse laughed, his cheeks flushed a bright red from the amount of alcohol he had drunk while some of the less reasonable students had waited in the pub with the teachers. “Well you weren’t askin’ her!”

Behind him Hana heard a deep, slightly uneven laugh. She assumed it was Zarya, having come back from drinking with Jesse slightly less worse for wear than the cowboy.

“Jesse McCree,” Lena poked his chest with each syllable, “How dare you-”

Jesse interrupted her, grabbing her hand and swinging it between them like a child. “Ain’t like you had the balls to-”

Hana rolled her eyes and left them to the mostly drunk brawling going on over a beanbag. Not her problem, she wasn't going to get involved. Nope. not this time. Instead she retreated back into the relative quiet and safety of her room, where she could pretend there wasn't a war going on outside her bedroom door over a girl they hardly knew. At least she was pretty, she supposed.

She sat back in her custom made gaming seat, flicked the mouse so the monitor flashed back from it’s screensaver and took up her headset once more. She was ready.

Time for a rematch, Sagikuun.


	6. The Wings and the Hat and the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a chapter we didn't finish at 2 am! We did it, we finally slept like human beings! Enjoy, this one was a lot of fun to write ^^

It was mid-afternoon on the last Friday before the October break, the headache was still thumping like a bitch behind his eyeballs as everyone finished up their meals in the canteen - meals he was jealous of as the cafe shutters closed down and the omnic staff retired for the day. Around them the other students dragged themselves outside towards the sports hall. Some of them headed to other lessons or clubs, but most were heading outside.

The October air was biting, and Gabriel was really glad that this was the last day before he would get a break.

He grumbled as he got to his feet, pushing away from the table with a scowl at the half eaten slice of toast he’d managed to grab before the canteen began to close up for the day. “I’m _so_ hungry.” Jesse, and his empty stomach, complained as he joined Gabriel in walking away from the sweet smell of the last lunch meal the academy would be serving for a week. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes under the shades he hastily borrowed from Angela’s room. They were round with bright purple rims, but he didn’t care. He also had no explanation other than they were reasonably close, but he might have to explain to Angela and Fareeha why he had gone into their room uninvited.

“That’s what we get for staying out so late.” He muttered, checking his phone as it beeped, confronted with six messages from Andrew. Heaving a sigh, he made a move to get the attention of the cigar-chewing cowboy so they could hurry over with the others, but ignored him for a moment tap out a reply on his bashed up old phone.

_ Andrew: morning babe _

_ Andrew: xoxoxoxo _

_ Andrew: u missed breakfast are u ok? _

_ Andrew: gabriel pick up ur fucking phone _

_ Andrew: why are you being a dick _

_ Andrew: are you ignoring me??? wtf   
_

_ Me: i’ll talk to you after class _

His phone pushed to the bottom of his pocket even as it buzzed again. He didn’t have time for Andrew’s bullshit today. 

They were a little behind the others as they walked across the field. When they pushed open the doors to the gym after everyone else had already got inside and he absently took a moment to thank the fact that Andrew wasn’t on the red or blue team. He really didn’t think he could deal with his shit right now.

It was a short walk from the main gymnasium hall to the boy’s locker room, where there was a lot of bare, scarred skin as soon as they walked in. 

Genji was, as usual, messing around on some silly game on his phone beside Hanzo, neither of them having much to do now they were changed, or in Genji’s case covered with just the coloured tabard of the red team. Junkrat and Mako were slapping each other with towels instead of actually changing, seemingly unaware that the rest of the room was busy getting dressed while they were dancing around naked and shrieking. Lucio hummed along to something as he pulled off his shirt. Gabriel remembered being vaguely surprised by how toned he was, for a guy that spent all his free time lounging in the common room or his bed with his headphones on. Damn vegans.

Gabriel and Jesse took the last and worst spots beside the showers and started to change. They expected to come back to their clothes after the showers had been used to find them splattered with soapy water.

As usual Jesse angled his left arm towards the wall as he gets changed. 

Gabriel watched him from the corner of his eye, as well as keeping an eye on everyone else in case there was someone paying too much attention to his friend. Jesse really was worrying for nothing, and Gabriel had told him so before. After all, half of Junkrat’s limbs were fake and no one cared about that.

Gabriel didn’t say anything this time though. He clocked Hanzo glancing over a few times and shot the new kid a cold glare.

Finally spitting out that old cigar, he finished changed into his gym gear and together they headed out into the surrounding fields and then through to the wooded area at the back of the academy grounds which had been built up specially for capture the flag operations like this. Lieutenant Wilhelm and Jack were setting up. Morrison was in pristine navy uniform as usual, holding the red flag so it billowed out in the wind above his head.   
  
“Red team with me,” he barked, staring out at the class with the blue tinted, one-sided visor he usually wore. He always treated gym class like an official mission, like every time they went out to train it was life and death. Gabriel remembered the last time he had earned himself a detention from Jack - it had certainly felt like death. Half of the grouped headed towards him then - “Fawkes! Where’s your vest?” 

The lanky Australian muttered something and turned on his heel to head right back for the locker room. Everyone else was fully outfitted, even the blue team.

“Anyways,” Jack began to explain, “Usual rules just laser guns instead.” They started to head for their territory leaving Jesse and the rest of his team to the much louder teacher. “There will be fouls for excessive physical force. We’re training with guns here. You go down after three direct hits until your medic comes, the vest will flash to remind you if you lose track.” 

As they filed into their side of the field Jack speared the flag into the firm sand in their territory. All the lazer guns were laid out around the flag, and he gestured to them with a hand, his golden hair catching the sunlight as he moved. “Best of three.”

They were all picking up and choosing which guns they wanted when the loud yell of Wilhelm came from the other side of the field: “PLACES COMRADES!”

Widowmaker checked over her gauntlets and her sniper before she seemed ready to go. She was so girly with that thing, even the harmless laser version. With glance over at Gabriel, raising an accusing eyebrow at his clearly hungover state, she aimed and quickly grappled away. She swung herself from a thick tree branch only to land on the small hill where she rolled into a prone position, switching her grip on the bulky rifle and smoothly lining it up with the rise of the hill. She was on defense this time, not offense.

“Could she be any more bloody extra?” came Lena’s voice as she twirled her guns and started to speed off in a burst of electric blue light to the furthest point the red team could stand on. She was ready to flank the blues. 

Inwardly agreeing with her, Gabriel headed for the other flank, already knowing which vantage point he’d choose that gave him cover but gave a good view of the approaching blues. It was an old shack that had been half destroyed in an earlier skirmish this year. Every year these various structures were taken down and rebuilt, but over the year the games got harder and harder as their cover got more and more worn down.

After he’d settled, holding himself to cover with his guns up, only a few moments passed before the starting horn blared. When the noise had gone there was nothing but a tense silence, broken only by the distant, overly excited German shouting.

There was nothing else for what felt like a long while. Gabriel stood, forcing himself to forget who were his friends and who had picked on him since he arrived at the academy, and put code names to faces he saw everyday. The only person who hadn't chosen a name yet, as far as he knew, was Amélie, who had been indecisive about it since she came. For now she had just gone by the name Widow on account of the grappling hook she’d been entering battle with, but it wouldn’t stick once she left training.

Then from in the distance he heard the first shots fired, heard the roar of engines as D.va in her superpowered, bright pink meca sped into range of his weapons. She was in range, but he waited still, just a little longer, just enough until her thrusters had to recharge before they could be used again. For half a second he listened for the whirring of them powering down, and then he made his move.

He span around the corner of his cover, imagining something like a cape or jacket billowing out behind him in the style of some of the old movies Jesse had forced him to watch, with his guns raised. They were like shotguns, but smaller and lighter so he could hold one in each hand. The recoil was ridiculous, but he head learned how to compensate for it. He kept his arms loose, incorporated his own flair into the attacks as he span around and fired, almost always directly on target.

One, two, three shots right to the back of the meca before anyone was any the wiser. D.va span around, fuming, as her machine sparked and hissed, the damage fake but convincing and satisfying all the same.

One more well placed shot was all he needed to bring that thing down, then D.va would be his to deal with, with minimal effort.

He held the gun up, right to the front of the meca as the gatling gun style arms pointed at him. Inside, the girl smirked, her face set ready for victory. Gabriel was confused why she looked so ready for the win, but he had his answer a moment later.

A flash of gold and white passed him by, Angela - Mercy in her newest version of her Valkyrie wings. She had a staff in her hands, the needle long and sharp but, for practice, it was hidden by a safety cover.

She held it up for a moment, pressing a trigger along the shaft that charged a neon blue light in the tip which seemed to charge the meca.

D.va laughed and shouted her thanks in korean.

Gabriel winced, waiting for the guns to tear him to shreds.

Instead he heard rapid fire from his left and used the distraction to tackle the healer off her feet, he got to his feet first, not held back by clunky wings and straps, and fired his guns at point blank range.

Hardly later he heard a giggly, “Bombs away, love!” and a sticky bomb landed on the meca’s leg. D.Va and Mercy had just seconds to realise what had happened, before it exploded with a shuddering bang and sent the healer and the Meka flying, both landing hard on their backs.

D.va was ejected from the tank before it shut down completely, and Mercy wasn't about to get up any time soon. She watched from the ground how the rest of this small skirmish played out as Tracer blinked away with a laugh and a whoop of excitement.

From some distance they heard a shot that left a ringing in their ears. D.va gasped, clutching her chest and fell dramatically to her knees, choking for air until she fell forwards onto her face.

She looked up and winked at Mercy.

From her spot on the hill, Widow had managed to get off a perfect headshot, that had blasted D.va’s health right the way down. She lost all her shots in one and now she was out of the fight, as well as the closest healer. 

“Angela,” Hana whispered, tapping her hand in the dirt to get the healer's attention, “Angela, your wings are smoking!”

The wings were indeed smoking, and sparking at the hinges and along the wiring. Gabriel ran forwards, discarding his guns on the floor as he went and tried to help her out of them, but he didn’t know what to do to get them to detach from the rest of her outfit. It would take him minutes to do it, and he wasn’t sure she had that long before something terrible might happen. Next to him Hana was fretting over what to do, and Angela’s hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t get a proper grip on any of the buckles.

Gabriel knew what had her so worried, he could just tell somehow. She had thought of every eventuality where she might need to get the wing off quickly, but now with what seemed to be a pull cord malfunctioning she had no choice but to do it manually, and the problems were making her panic. He knew the feeling.

Amélie was with them in a second, a chink of the grappling hook closing in on another branch as she pulled herself towards the scene. “Get back,” she told Gabriel, looking down at Angela as she struggled with the clasps and the correct order.

Gabriel did as he was told while Amelie took over the delicate procedure of getting the broken wings off Angela’s back. More than once she had to move the panicking healer’s hands away from the clasps she was trying to undo. She looked like she knew what she was doing.

The fight raged on around them, the explosions of Fareeha’s rocket launcher lighting up in Gabriel’s ears, as well as Junkrat’s piercing laugh. Everything else was a mess of laser fire and familiar voices layered over Angela's scared breathing. Gabriel had never seen her this panicked before, not even when people were injured, her hands were clenching on air and her face was ashen. He felt helpless. He was helpless.

Amélie was not.

She had the harness that held the wings flush again’s Angela’s back loosened in no time, her eyes never seeming to show even a flash of worry. She kept her cool, and why wouldn’t she. She was trained to be a sniper after all, calm under pressure. This was different, but her training helped.

Gabriel could just watch, standing beside a worried onlooking Hana, both of them stumped as to why they hadn’t been able to help more than they had. But Angela had a way of making things more complex than they needed to be.

Once it was off Gabriel finally found his hands moving forward, ripping the wings away and tossing them towards the no man's land of the pitch.

“Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!”

The cry came from some ways away, but the rumbling sound of the explosives heading their way grew louder and louder. Even though it was safe, it wouldn't injure them, it was still intimidating. No one seemed worried as such, but they kept an eye out for the tyre - if it crashed into any of them it would still hurt like hell. The stationary group had probably attracted Junkrat’s attention, and Gabriel itched to get it over with and them out.

“I'll tell Ja-”

He didn't even finish his syllable and the rip tyre hit, colliding with the thick trunk of a close by tree. 

For a moment he was just thankful it hadn’t been any of them being hit by the tyre, but the force and heat of it seemed to hit him full in the chest, but not hard enough to push him. After the explosion there was more noise

Then fire. 

Bits of carbon fibre and orange plastic ripped through the air as he struggled to get any of his teammates up - Amélie had Angela and seemed to be safe enough with her, so he reached for Hana’s arm and pushed her towards the body of her meca. Sharp shards of plastic embedded in his vest. Angela had fallen back down, so he dashed forwards.and grabbed her, tugging her to her feet with an arm around her waist as Amélie draped the healer’s arm over her shoulders. Together the two of them carried her to safety.

“Am you can grapple, go get help.”

“You go,” she countered, “I’m staying to make sure she’s okay!” Amélie glared at him as he opened his mouth to protest her compromise. He wanted to tell her it made no sense, but he quickly closed his mouth and nodded. There was no time to argue with her, so he took Hana with him and made off to find the teachers.

As they fell into the flanks, they found more teammates guns up, totally ignoring their shooting. “Angela's down!” He yelled in the direction of an overenthusiastic shooter, ignoring cover and heading to the peripheries of the pitch where he imagined he’d find either Wilhelm or Jack. the shooter joined then, his cowboy hat falling off as he sprinted with them towards help. Jesse didn't even seem to notice.

They reached a clearing before they reached the edge of the pitch, but that was where they found their coaches, both slumped and unconscious. Reinhardt was collapsed face first on the ground in his crusader armour, his hammer laying a few feet away from his huge hands. But Jack was sitting against the trunk of a tree, almost peaceful looking as he dozed in the dappled sunlight. It made his jaw look even more chiselled, his hair a richer shade of gold. He had his gun right next to his hand, but it looked like he had put it down intentionally.

Standing above them, a tiny dart gun in hand, their headmistress looked coolly at the three of them. She regarded the hatless Jesse, and battered Hana and Gabriel with slight confusion. “Aren’t you three meant to be out there training?” Ana asked, waving her hand back towards the woods. 

“Angie’s down, got hurt somehow,” Jesse told her between gasps.

Ana looked to the boy sitting beside her, Genji with his legs splayed out in front of him and his head back. His systems looked overloaded, the green lights on his chest flickering as if there wasn't enough juice left in his system to keep them running. “Mr Reyes, you stay with young Shimada. You two, take me to Miss Zeigler.”

 

About two hours later when they were changed and allowed to head into the infirmary, Gabriel and Jesse went with each other to visit their injured friend. Well, Gabriel wasn't sure if they were really friends, but he definitely had nothing against Angela and that made her friend enough right. Besides, she was pretty much Amélie’s girlfriend, and the girlfriend of a friend is also a friend or something like that?

Amélie had been with Angela the whole time, other than the time when she was forced to leave so the nurse could actually get on with stitching up the cut on the back of her leg and applying a cream to the burns.

When they opened the door it was to hear Angela complaining about her leg itching, and Amélie commanding her not to touch the dressing. “But I could've fixed it in a heartbeat, you know I could.”

“I know,” Amélie soothed, “but… the nurse knows what she’s doing Ange.”

Gabriel hovered in the doorway while Jesse walked in and took a seat on the other side of the bed Angela had been forced to lay in until her leg was healed. He took her hand, noting that Amélie had hold of the other with an amused grin. 

“What happened to not bein’ in the line of fire, Angie?” 

“I didn’t intend to get caught in an  _ actual fire _ !” Angela retorted indignantly. She stopped for a moment, gave her friend a once over and then realised exactly what was missing. “Not that I don’t like your hair but… where’s your hat Jesse, you look odd without it.”

Jesse was about to answer, his mouth halfway open with a witty reply, when the true implications of Angela’s words struck him. He let go of her hand, bringing both hands to his head and patted his scruffy hair for a few seconds, his face contorting more and more into a mask of horror. His eyes were wide, his mouth agape like a fish. Angela giggled, Amélie wasn’t sure how to react and Gabriel just had no reaction at all. He wasn’t bothered by a hat.

Before anyone could say anything else Jesse patted Angela’s hand with a quick, “Get better soon,” and left as quickly as he had come in. There was a silence as the door to the infirmary opened and then closed.

Jesse appeared back in the doorway. “Amélie, you look after her or I’ll… I dunno what you’re scared of but I’ll find out!”

“Spiders!” Angela shouted after him.

Gabriel tuned out the rest of the bickering that went on between the two girls, something about the pain medication kicking in but he wasn't really bothered. He was just glad the best medic in the academy wasn't really injured, and maybe they could be friends after this.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Gabriel looked to Angela. “I’m glad you’re okay. Get better soon, I have to go meet someone so I can’t stay.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Angela half yelled, “Just take Amélie with you, okay. Go to class Am…” She waved her hand a little, pointing groggily in one direction even though the door and Amélie’s class was in the other direction.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows in slight amusement before doing as he was asked and corralling the sniper out of the room.”Your girl will still be here when you’ve done English, come on. She might even be conscious, or talking, or acting sober!”

They left the room, as Hanzo was walking into one of the others. Maybe his brother was in there, but Gabriel had already seen one drugged to hell person, that was enough for him. 

Now he just had to deal with Andrew’s latest problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, also it's October Break now, so there's a few one shots for the break on the series link that happen between this and the next chapter. They're gonna be relevant in the next chapters maybe, definitely Chopsticks Are Not Optional, so just a heads up for in case it's confusing why they're being goobers with no context

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Hope you enjoyed that!  
> Thanks for reading, all feedback is welcome :)


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